


Dear Fellow Traveler

by abigaillecters



Category: The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 15:30:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abigaillecters/pseuds/abigaillecters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And my love is so wise and so pretty<br/>But tonight I still dream of you</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dear Fellow Traveler

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohwhatagloomyshow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohwhatagloomyshow/gifts).



The book thief and the Jewish fist fighter are eating dinner in the back room of Herr Steiner’s shop when Max asks Liesel to come back to Stuttgart with him.

“Come with me,” he says over a meager supper of watery stew that Liesel had prepared in her tiny apartment across the street from the tailor’s shop. She's stunned for a moment that seems to last for an eternity. Her mind was running rampant and she had a million questions for the man with the swampy, tired eyes.

“What do you mean?” she asks, her dinner threatening to make a reappearance.

“I mean that I’d like you to see Stuttgart. It’s a lot nicer than it was a few years ago,” he laughs nervously.

"And where would I stay?"

A brief silence. "With me. In my apartment. It's only one bedroom but I can take the couch or.."

The soft glow of the street lamps outside illuminated Liesel’s face and Max thought that he had never seen her look more beautiful. She was no longer the eleven year old girl in the basement who had read to him while he went right up against Death.

"Or?"

"Or I could stay with Vera." He can't bring himself to look her in the eye.

"I don't understand," her stomach is in knots and her heart lodges itself in her throat.

He sighs as he rubs the tiredness from the day's journey to Molching from his eyes. "Vera is the woman I'm seeing," he says flatly.

She manages a faint, fake smile. It doesn't suit her. "Oh. That's nice,"

He musters up his own uncomfortable smile, "So it's settled then. You'll come back with me to Stuttgart tomorrow afternoon. We'll have dinner with Vera, maybe take a walk. It will be fun," he hears himself lie. 

-

That evening, sitting on the couch in her cramped, cold apartment, Max and Liesel, relive old and happy memories with their cheeks aching from laughter. 

The laughter turns into a comfortable silence as the fireplace grows dimmer. "I really missed you Max" Liesel admits, a faint blush creeping up her throat.

"I missed you too, Liesel. I had no one to read to me." she can hear the smile in his voice and it breaks her heart.

"Are you happy?" they're both startled by the bluntness of her question and she prays he didn't hear her. 

He did.

A sigh. "I'm comfortable" is his reply. He has almost every reason to be happy. He's punched Death square in the face and lived to tell the tale, he has a job and a roof over his head. Vera's nice enough; she's smart and she's beautiful, but she's no Word Shaker.

"Liesel?"

"Hmm?" she replies sleepily.

He takes a minute to long to reply back and by the time he looks over at her, her eyes are closed and her breathing has slowed. She's practically asleep. Carefully, his arms find their way around her knees and her arms wrap themselves around his neck and he carries her to her bedroom where he tucks her into bed. She's awake enough to be aware that the man with the hair like feathers is standing right next to her and if she were braver and if he didn't have a girlfriend, she would ask him to sleep next to her.

He kisses her forehead and all hope is lost.

The sweet gesture leaves a bitter taste in Liesel's mouth as she falls into a black, dreamless sleep.

-

The train ride to Stuttgart the next day takes a few hours but they find ways to pass the time. Max talks about his childhood in Stuttgart and Liesel tells him about life with Ilsa Hermann and Alex Steiner. The silence that follows the lull in conversation is quite comfortable. He falls asleep for about half an hour and she can't help but stare. His face is a little worn and there are a few stress lines that weren't there when he left Himmel Street the first time but he still looks like himself. His smile is still warm and his teeth still beautifully crooked. She looks away quickly when he wakes up, hoping he doesn't notice that her eyes had been fixed on him.

He does notice. Their eyes meet for a fraction of a second that seems to last a lifetime. Her brown eyes are warm and he can see the stories hidden in them. Max wants nothing more than to find out what those stories are.

-

Vera meets them at the train station. Vera is a slim, pretty woman in her late 20's. Her naturally red hair is done in a tight bun, she wears minimal makeup but, and her green dress brings out the redness in her hair. Liesel is all too aware of her too-thin body, her childish blonde curls, the lack of makeup on her face. Liesel can fully understand why he's with Vera and why he's never given her a second glance.

She's dated men before but none of them had worked out. They were all very nice but they lacked substance. That's what she tells herself. The real reason that none of them worked out was that none of them were Max. 

She decides early on to be happy for him. If he's happy, she's happy. It's easy to like Vera. She's a sweet woman who offers to take them out for dinner. She asks Liesel questions about Molching and how she likes Stuttgart and they have a lengthy discussion about Jane Eyre.

Max and Liesel's eyes meet again as he smiles at Liesel, and mouths "thank you". That damn smile of his is almost enough to break her heart. She keeps smiling as they walk through the cool German night. 

-

Max decides during their walk that night that he doesn't feel comfortable leaving Liesel in his apartment alone. Liesel will sleep in his bed and he will sleep on his couch. Vera kisses Max on his cheek, a kiss that takes a little too long in Liesel's opinion, and says goodbye for the night. The walk back to Max's flat takes about 15 minutes and the silence gets to be too much for Liesel.

"Vera's really nice," she says, and she means it.

Max smiles half-heartedly. "Yeah, she's great."

"Where'd you meet her?" she doesn't really want to know but she feels the need to ask.  
"Synagogue. I noticed she was there every Friday night like I was. It made sense to ask her to dinner a few months ago." his voice is quiet, almost like he doesn't want to talk about Vera in front of Liesel. 

"I'm happy for you, Max" she yawns as she speaks. They reach his apartment soon enough and Liesel's surprised to see that it's smaller than hers. How he managed to fit a couch in is beyond her.

"So this is it," he says, gesturing to the three doors that contain the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. "You'll sleep in my bed tonight and I'll be right here if you need anything. Do you want some coffee?" He was talking quicker now, a sign of nerves.

"No, thank you. I think I'll go right to bed," she smiles and he shows her where she can keep her things as he grabs his pajamas from a drawer. 

"Goodnight, Liesel. Remember I'm just down the hall" he almost trips over his own feet walking backwards out of the room.

-

Max is lying on his couch, his legs hanging over the edge when he hears her crying. He doesn't know whether or not he should go to her but then he hears her yell her foster parent's names and he answers his question.  
"Mama! Papa!" she screams as he climbs into bed with her and instinctively cups her body against his chest.

"Shh! Liesel, shh! It's Max. Wake up, Liesel. Please" her tears are hot against his hand as he tries in vain to wipe them away. 

Her eyes fly open and her body jolts upright, her shoulders shaking almost uncontrollably. "I didn't get to say goodbye," she says through her tears. His hands stroke her hair and rub her back while she finishes crying.

They sit in the dark for awhile, holding each other in the most innocent way possible but there's something about it that feels somehow illicit. 

She's running her fingers along the length of his arm when she realizes that she needs to tell him how she feels. She can't live with this secret inside her, especially when they never keep secrets from each other. She adjusts herself so she's sitting in front of them, her face mere inches from his. He's studying her face, waiting for her to say something, anything when her lips meet his.

There's no trace of lust in the kiss. It's sweet and soft and warm. It's her way of telling him she loves him. He starts to kiss her back when she abruptly pulls away.

"Oh my god," her eyes are wide and her heart is racing. His face is flushed, he's obviously embarrassed, but he does not leave the bed. She does, quickly throwing on her skirt and her jacket from last night.

"I'm so sorry, Max. I never should have.."

"Liesel, it's okay." he tries to get her to come back to him but it's no use. She's packing her things. "Please don't go," he pleads.

"I have to go. What I did wasn't fair to you. Or Vera."

Vera

Her name tastes like acid on her tongue and Max doesn't want to think about seeing her in the morning. Not after what just happened.

"Liesel!" he calls out the window and down to the street as he watches her frantically making her way toward the train station in the early morning light.

He keeps calling her name but it's no use. By the time he rouses himself from his bed, she's back in Molching.

-

On the train from Stuttgart, she decides she needs to leave Germany. It's ghosts were the only thing keeping her here but she's had enough. In the two weeks between Stuttgart and leaving for Australia, she doesn't contact Max. She can't bear the shame.

Herr Steiner, however, notices her quiet, almost melancholic behavior and decides to write to Max himself and tell him of the girl's plan to move to Australia. As far away from Germany as she can get.

-

Neither Max nor Liesel can get that kiss out of their heads. When his lips were on Liesel's, Max felt whole again. Kissing Vera was like putting a bandaid on a wound and kissing Liesel was like healing it.

Upon learning of Liesel's plan, he figured there was nothing for him in Germany anymore either. 

-

It's two weeks after The Kiss and Liesel is packing the last of her possessions when there's a knock on her door. Her mouth hangs agape in surprise when she opens the door to see Max Vandenburg holding two suitcases.

"Max!" she cries as she hugs him tight, causing him to drop his bags.

"I broke up with Ver," he whispers into her neck. 

She pulls away from him for a brief second in confusion but also, and she wouldn't dare admit this, happiness.

"What?"

"She's a lovely girl. But she's not for me. There's someone else," he says quietly.

Her lips curve upward into a smile and he presses his mouth to hers.

"I was wondering if you'd like some company in Australia," he asks when they come up for air. 

She nods excitedly as they embrace in her doorway. The word shaker and her fellow traveler.


End file.
